Connect Fours is an interactive that is a takeoff of the popular British Gameshow Only Connect. Create a game show using a minimum of 16 cards with word sets or phrases that will fit into four or more categories. After clicking "Create a New Quiz" you can upload a CVS spreadsheet or simply type in the words. Clicking Help, Example, or Submit will bring up directions for the exact formatting needed to have for the successful creation of a quiz. Don't forget to title your quiz! Save the URL or bookmark it to share it with others. Tip: when clicking the cards they ding. You may want to turn the sound down on the computer.

In the Classroom

Create a Connect Fours game with various aspects of information about curriculum content to share with students. Develop activities to review any topic and save for use as a classroom center. Have students create review Connect Fours as a study tool. Be sure to demonstrate how to make and share Create Fours before having students set up their own. Ideas for categorization activities are unlimited, but can include categorizing types of animals, literary elements in novels, habitats, characteristics of geographic areas, and much more.

SheHeroes is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering girls from ages 8-14 to dream big and pursue any interests regardless of gender. Articles feature well-known and everyday females that serve as inspiration for young girls. Choose the Features link to browse articles by categories such as engineering and sports. The video link offers several short videos of prominent women discussing how they have grown in their careers. Each includes a link to discussion questions for further exploration. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. You could always view them at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Use SheHeroes as part of your Career Day or career unit resources. Add a link on classroom computers for students (male and female) to explore on their own. Take advantage of the further discussion questions to encourage students to think about the obstacles faced by women in business and society. Ask a prominent local business woman to speak to your class and discuss obstacles she has faced and how she was able to overcome those issues. Although the site is dedicated to girls from ages 8-14, share with both boys and girls from ages 8 and up as part of any unit on gender inequalites.

Use newhive as a clean slate to express your ideas, artwork, videos, and more. Begin by using an email address to sign up for a free account. You will then see a blank white slate to start. Easily add text, images, video, audio, files, and shapes. Once you are finished adding content, save to your account by giving your multimedia project a title and tags. Then decide if you want it public or searchable. This tool is simple, quick, and easy to use. The tool requires that a member be age 13 or older.

In the Classroom

Students can use newhive to demonstrate learning of any kind across grade levels and content areas. They can practice good digital citizenship by citing images, videos, and online content properly or use student-created images, videos, and other content. Use this tool as a portfolio for any subject. Art, music, and language arts are naturals for collecting original student work, but what about science? Students can photograph experiments and write up labs and post to newhive for their portfolio. Teachers can use the site as a jump page to guide a lesson or create WebQuests. Make a work prototype page and upload examples of exemplary work to share with students to set expectations for completed products before beginning a project. The uses for this tool are wide open!

Post text online quickly and easily, without registration using shortText. Type or paste text into the text box and click Create URL. Instantly receive the URL to share or use as desired. Options allow users to include a link to a video or image, allow comments, or make the message private.

In the Classroom

Use shortText for quick writing projects on an interactive whiteboard or projector. When modeling writing or notetaking in class, open shortText instead of a word document! Enabling comments would allow students to ask questions about the assignment. When finished, share on your class website using the URL created. Have students use shortText in your classroom when using mobile devices to write a short journal entry or exit ticket at the end of a lesson. Be sure to give students the URL for this and have them identify themselves, so you don't end up with 30 URLs to open and assess. Use this site in world language classes to have students write a blog entry in the new language. Have students write about how they solved a math problem and include an image of their work. Create a standing assignment for elementary and middle schoolers on snow days. Have students write a post about the snow using shortText and share the URL on a class wiki.

Use this delightful tool to flip through 20 Flickr pictures. Every image is on the screen for only 20 seconds. Advanced options allow for changing the time and the number of images. See if you can build a story from the pictures with this entertaining tool.

In the Classroom

What a delightful tool to use for impromptu speeches in any class or improvisation in a drama class. Consider uploading images for your curriculum topic to Flickr, reviewed here, and creating a specific tag or tags for the images, and then use pechaflickr as a review tool. Pechaflickr can be a great lesson starter, particularly on those dreary days when kids don't want to work. For lower level kids, it is a brain exercise for such things as an alphabet game (which is more difficult than it first seems!). In an ELA or ESL/ELL class have students create a complete sentence for as many pictures as they can, trying to improve the number of sentences written each time, or they can choose one of the sentences to create a story.

Create a voice recorded message board with Voxopop. Set up a public, restricted, or private talk group. Anyone can listen to public discussions, but you must have an account to contribute to a talk group, create a talk group or set up email notifications to know when someone has contributed to your talk groups.

In the Classroom

Use Voxopop with any language learning students, both ELL/ESL and world languages. Students can practice speaking and listening in their new language. Create small groups to discuss anything from current events, how to complete a math problem, to contributions for group research projects. Use the site with early readers in your Daily 5 literacy for oral reading and listening to others read. Reluctant writers could use this tool to brainstorm their thoughts for a writing piece.

Think about how you want to use this program. Having a restricted talk group means you would invite students via email. When signing up one is asked to give their country, email, and whether you are a student, teacher, or other. There is also an option to give your town/city. With students under 13 consider setting up a class account using a global login. Students would need to give their first name when contributing so you will know who is speaking. With students who are a little older, it might be easier to set up small groups. Consider using Gmail subaccounts, explained here, this tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service. This would provide anonymous interaction within your class.

Create an online bulletin board (much like Padlet, reviewed here, or Lino, reviewed here) for brainstorming and VOTING on any topic. The voting is what makes this tool different. Create an account. There is no waiting for email approval. Add a board, title, select how many votes the participants will have (up to 10), and start adding posts with text, images, and video. Add images and video via URL or upload from your computer. When participants join, they give their name. Participants can add posts. Names of participants using the board appear below the chat box. Participants name's appear when they make a comment in the chat. However, comments on posts don't have the participant name. Once the board is complete, the creator can finalize the board so no new ideas can be posted, but the voting feature is still open.

In the Classroom

Share your board with a projector or interactive whiteboard. Put the URL link on your website for students to access. If you don't want to share the link that way, then use a tool such as Google URL Shortener, reviewed here, for students to type in (and reduce input mistakes). You may want to think about students using only their first name or their code to participate. Dotstorming does not show which posts belong to which student, so you may want to require that students identify their post and comment by putting their initials, their first name, or their code on their contributions to get credit. If you plan to allow all students to post to the wall or make comments, you may want to discuss Internet safety and etiquette and establish specific class rules and consequences.

Use Dotstorming to collect WebQuest links and information to share with students. Assign a student project. For example, have students create a board about an environmental issue. They can include pictures, video, links, and other information to display. Use as a new format for book reports. Do your students have favorites such as music or sports? Create a board around these favorites or hobbies. Use a wall for grammar or vocabulary words. Create walls for debates or viewpoints. The voting is perfect for that idea! Post assignments, reminders, or study skills on a board. Do you use student scribes or reporters? Use Dotstorming to create a board with class news and updates.

Use Dotstorming as an "idea bin" where students can collect ideas, images, quotes, and more for a project. Require them to share a brainstorming Dotstorming board to show you the ideas they considered before they launch into a project. Have them brainstorm (and rank by votes) the possibilities for a creative problem solving or a "Maker Faire" project. In writing or art classes, use Dotstorming as a virtual writer's journal or design notebook to collect ideas, images, and even video clips.

Use Dotstorming as your virtual word wall for vocabulary development. Have students submit and share questions or comments about assignments and tasks they are working on.

Ocenaudio is easy to use software for editing audio. Download the software to any major operating system such as Windows, Mac, or Linux. Use prompts to navigate the software using a large variety of audio files. Trim, copy, and paste audio or choose from an assortment of effects. When finished, save the file in the format of your choice. Be sure to see the features link on the site for complete information on the capabilities of the software.

In the Classroom

Use Ocenaudio in early grades to promote literacy by recording your students and creating an audio portfolio record of their reading. Use this tool with ESL/ELL students to practice fluency and hear themselves speak. Use Ocenaudio to record parents, principals, lunch ladies, librarians, relatives, and bus drivers all telling a favorite class story. During writing time, allow students freedom from the pencil to express their true creative voices. Also, dabble into digital storytelling to create a lesson in adding voice, emotion, and characterization. Record audio interviews at local nursing homes, fire stations, or museums to recollect times such as wars, the Great Depression, Civil Rights Movements, or as a primary source during memorable events. Record world language conversations as a student project. Make music class or the school band a gold recording!

Sharalike is a simple and beautiful tool to create slideshows. Import images and use the drag and drop feature to put them in order. Add music from their library or upload your own. Share via email, Twitter, Facebook, embed code, or URL. You may also wish to make your slideshow public and see if it gets featured.

In the Classroom

Sharalike is a great way for students to create and share things that they photograph. Challenge students to give oral reports using Sharalike as the visual part of their presentation. Have students take pictures during field trips to use in a Sharalike to display what they saw and learned on the trip. Photograph steps of a science experiment. Alternatively, have students search for Creative Commons and Public Domain images to use as part of a slideshow biography about a prominent person in history. Use to tell the story of the water cycle or another process. Create a Sharalike to use for review of classroom topics. Have students create a Sharalike presentation demonstrating learning in any subject area such as Civil War events, different characteristics of animals, etc. Create a Sharalike for your elementary classroom as part of an informal, sharing presentation. Upload a picture that each student has drawn and have students tell the class about the picture in their own words. What a great way to get young students acclimated to talking in front of a group.

Doodle.ly is a quick and easy to use drawing tool. Click Doodle Now in the upper right corner to begin drawing. Use tools located at the bottom of the screen to draw with pencil, crayon, marker, and more. Change colors by clicking the color bar. When finished, click Publish to save your drawing with options to share on Twitter or Facebook. Doodle.ly works on the web and iOS7 (at the time of this review). Doodle.ly automatically loads popular drawings when loading the home page, be sure to check for inappropriate content before sharing with students.

In the Classroom

If you are fortunate enough to have computers or iPads in the classroom, this application will work well for collaborative illustrations. Have each student add a different part of a story for retelling or summarizing main events while others watch and share additional information. Have students create simple math problems while another student solves. Sketch out plans for visual projects, brainstorm freehand, or even create collaborative diagrams to accompany lab reports.

Keith Hughes' playlist includes 27 videos geared toward new teachers containing practical advice and tips in an entertaining way. Titles include 5 Ways For Teachers to Chillax Students on Test Day, Teaching Advice for Dummies, and The Art of the Lecture. Most videos run ten minutes or less making them easy to watch and share. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid reviewed here to download the videos from YouTube.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Include videos during back to school preparation and planning with other staff members. Share with your student teacher as an excellent repository of teaching advice. Use these videos as examples for creating your own videos to share with your teaching colleagues.

Make classroom management easier with the Mega Seating Plan seating chart creator. Import student data from a spreadsheet and set up the layout of your classroom. Choose to create a random seating arrangement or boy/girl setup. Drag and Drop students to adjust as you like. Include additional data, if desired, on the spreadsheet to show on your seating plan such as reading level or current grades.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use this site at the beginning of the year to create a seating chart for your classroom. Use the drag and drop technology to configure the desks the way you want them. Trying to separate the most social students? Experiment with different seating layouts until you find the one you think might work. This tool will also make useful diagrams for your sub plans. Flip your classroom a new way by having students "design" a dream classroom as part of a math lesson on measurement or a lesson on simple map skills. Suddenly, the classroom tool becomes a student tool!

Create an image from any area on a map using Map Stack. Type a location to find it on the map, and then personalize from several options. Change the size of the covered area in the box by adjusting the arrows in or out. Click the map to move it around to fit in the box how you like, or set the image size in pixels. One interesting option is the drop-down box to change the look of the map. Use this box to view terrain, toner, and watercolor options. When finished, click "MAKE" to create your image, go to the URL provided to view the image and download to your computer.

In the Classroom

Use Map Stack to focus on and compare resources found in various communities or geographic locations. Identify where natural resources are concentrated in the world. Compare street design in different communities, the concentration of population, and more. Have students use a Map Stack image with multimedia projects for many different topics such as communities, locations of battles, or historic events. Use these maps on your interactive whiteboard as you teach about any location, using the whiteboard pens and highlighters to have students indicate landforms, places, and more on the maps.

This article from Buzzsprout offers a great deal of information about mobile learning and how to incorporate it into classrooms. Discover the importance of mobile learning along with some of the hurdles faced when incorporating it in any learning situation. Read about the advantages of using podcasts in a flipped classroom or as a solution for self-paced learning. Be sure to check out the infographic included with this article that has statistics about the increased presence of mobile learning.

In the Classroom

Share this article with parents (or administrators) as an explanation and introduction to using podcasts in your classroom. Share with other teachers as part of your professional development sessions on learning technologies. Explore these other options for choosing your podcasting tools - PodOmatic, reviewed here, and Spreaker, reviewed here.

Enter the world of Ultimate Camp Resources and find a myriad of songs, games, videos, and more to use at home, at camp, or in a classroom. Then check out the blog for even more resources! If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. You could always view them at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Bookmark this tool for the first week of school or any time that you want to experience some "team-building" in your class. Use this site to find games and activities for classroom icebreakers. Find ideas on this site to build relationships among students. Share this site with parent helpers to find ideas for classroom parties.

GetEdFunding curates and collects an up to date database of grant and award opportunities for school systems. Create a free account using your email to search and view available grants. Once you have an account, save items of interest and stay up to date on upcoming deadlines. In addition to the site's very large database, be sure to check out the Resources link for articles, videos, a glossary, and access to the online community forum. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. You could always view them at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Create your account and explore GetEdFunding to find many grant opportunities. Apply for a grant using the tips provided in the Resources link. Be sure to share with your colleagues as an excellent resource for all grade levels and subjects. Consider creating a committee of interested teachers to divide up grant writing and win money for your school.

Buzzsprout offers free, easy to use, podcast hosting. Sign up to receive two hours of hosting per month. Uploads remain available for 90 days. Buzzsprout's dashboard walks you through the process of creating and sharing podcasts and provides information on the time remaining in your current cycle. Copy and paste one line of code to include your podcast directly on any website.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Even if you aren't ready to create podcasts, share the How To Make a Podcast page with your students with excellent tips for creating any type of speaking presentation. Create regular or special podcasts to share on your class web page or wiki. Have readers (perhaps older buddies) build fluency by recording selected passages for your non-readers. Launch a service project for your fifth or sixth graders to record stories for the kindergarten to use in their reading and listening center. Have students create "you are there" recordings as "eyewitnesses" to historical or current events. Make a weekly class podcast, with students taking turns writing and sharing the "Class News." Have students create radio advertisements for concepts studied in class (Buy Dynamic DNA!). Have students write and record their own stories or poetry in dramatic readings. Language students or beginning readers could record their fluency by reading passages and listening to themselves. Allow parents to hear their child's progress reading aloud, etc. Compare world language, speech articulation, or reading fluency at two points during the year. Have your Shakespeare students record a soliloquy. Write and record a poem for Father's or Mother's Day (or other special events) and send the URL as a gift to that special person. If you have gifted students who lean toward the dramatic, this tool is simple enough for them to create dramatic mini-casts without needing a video camera.

Comments

The podcasting 101 information is incredibly helpful for anyone wishing to begin podcasting. It also establishes tips that can be helpful for any speaker (as the description says).Patricia, NJ, Grades: 6 - 12

GIMP is a free software download to use when working with images and photos. Features include paint tools, photo retouching, animation, and much more. GIMP provides an extensive tutorial library broken into categories for beginning through expert users.

In the Classroom

Use this tool anytime photos need to be edited for use on class blogs, wikis, or in presentation tools found here. In primary grades, this tool could be useful for teachers to use to edit pictures from a field trip, science experiments, and more. Share the editing process with your younger students using your interactive whiteboard or projector. Edit together! Encourage older students to use this site themselves on images for projects or presentations. Use this tool in photography or art classes. Use the editor to edit pictures to fit styles of pictures when doing historical reports or to set a mood. Use text options for the photos themselves to tell the stories. Have students annotate or label Creative Commons online images of cells, structures of an animal, and much more.

Record a PC desktop with or without sound using free software from SRecorder. This software works only with Windows Operating Systems. After downloading and installing the software, use the desktop shortcut to begin the recording. Choose to view the entire desktop or select a specific area using the crop box provided. Click the red button to record, then use the icons on the screen to save to your computer or share to social networking sites.

In the Classroom

Use SRecorder to record instructions for using websites. Share how to perform problems, step by step directions for any project, and much more. Leave a video message for your substitute teacher or even your class! Create a video message to share with parents about current projects, clips from field trips, and more. Share on your class website for students to view at home.

Kid World Citizen offers a large variety of resources to encourage kids to become global learners and thinkers. Explore categories such as books, food, and art to find international learning activities. Look for topics on specific countries using the map search. Be sure to check out the For Fun area with links to movies, music, games, and toys.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Bookmark this site for use throughout the year when teaching about countries, holidays, and for cross-cultural literature resources. Choose a country to explore each month using resources found on the site. Learn about your students' backgrounds to find countries and regions to explore using activities on the site. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare and contrast your culture with that of a different country.